1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to weight loss, obesity and appetite suppression, more particularly, to methods of suppressing appetite by administering one or more alkali metals to an individual in need thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Obesity is fast becoming an acute global health crisis, particularly in the developed world. About 97 million adults in the United States are overweight or obese and the problem is growing in Europe and Asia as well. The medical problems caused by being overweight or obese can be serious and often life-threatening, and include diabetes, shortness of breath, gallbladder disease, hypertension, elevated blood cholesterol levels, cancer, arthritis, other orthopedic problems, reflux esophagitis (heartburn), snoring, sleep apnea, menstrual irregularities, infertility and heart trouble. Moreover, obesity or being overweight substantially increases the risk of morbidity from hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancers. Higher body weights are also associated with increases in all-cause mortality. Most or all of these problems are relieved or improved by permanent significant weight loss. Longevity and quality of life is likewise significantly increased by permanent significant weight loss.
Excessive weight and/or obesity may be due to uncontrollable and/or controllable factors. Uncontrollable factors may include heredity (i.e., genetics) and metabolic disorders. Controllable factors may include environment, physical inactivity, psychological circumstances, and poor eating habits established in childhood and use of certain medications. Poor eating habits may include excessive intake as well as poor selection of foods with nutritional value. The controllable factors are often more responsible for the development of overweight and obesity.
Therapeutic approaches to overweight and obesity have included educational, physical, psychological and pharmacological modalities. Educational efforts have focused on informing individuals about caloric intake and making proper nutritional selections. Physical approaches have emphasized increasing physical activity in an effort to increase metabolism. Psychological approaches have focused on controlling appetite, manipulating mood and improving sense of well-being. Pharmacological approaches may include drugs and other agents to suppress appetite and/or increase cellular metabolism. There are a broad range of opinions as to how successful these therapeutic approaches have been either individually or collectively, but nevertheless, incidence and prevalence of overweight and obesity continue to increase. Regardless of cause, there is an obvious need for treatments that can induce or otherwise promote weight loss.
Accordingly, there exists a need for new, effective weight loss treatments which are accompanied by few adverse or undesirable side effects or less serious side effects. In particular, there exists a need for developing weight loss treatments which can potentially lower major endpoints such as death and/or myocardial infarction rates by directly treating obesity rather than treating the consequences of obesity (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia), as is currently the practice.